In Mario Kart 7, the Gold Tires are unlocked by collecting 15,000 coins, or by getting a star rank on every GP cup for each engine class. They offer the exact same stat boosts as the Slick tires, and they offer the best speed boost, but they also offer the worst off-road boost. However, the Gold Tires give up some more acceleration to enhance weight. Additionally, they're tied with the Slick, Monster, and Red Monster, for the weakest handling boost in the game.

In terms of their hidden stats, the Gold Tires have a negative impact on sea speed, but interestingly, they don't affect the sea handling stat. They also hinder the air handling stat, making it more difficult to steer while using the glider. Based on stat totals alone, the Gold Tires have the lowest stat total of all the tires in the game.

When the Gold Tires are combined with the Gold Standard body and Gold Glider, they complete the whole Gold Standard. This kart gives great speed (the 2nd biggest boost in the game) and good weight, but has a bad handling boost, and abysmal off-road (the smallest boost in the game, which is on par to if the Slick tires were used).

The Gold Tires also appear in Mario Kart 8, along with the other gold parts from Mario Kart 7. They look slightly different than they do in Mario Kart 7, and their stats have also been modified to be much more balanced than before; the Gold Tires now share their stats with the Metal tires.

The player can unlock the Gold Tires by defeating all the non-DLC Staff Ghosts in Time Trial mode.